My Hands
by Happily Ever Never
Summary: After a hundred years Yuuko returns. Watanuki is freed from his price the exiled from the shop. Watanuki cries and tries to create his new life in a new world while living with the painful memories of his first true love.
1. Chapter 1

My Hands

(Author intro, you may skip if you wish)

As you walk into H.E.N today you find the mood rather somber. The mistress isn't even typing away at her typewriter; instead the girl is ruining her ruffles on the floor as she attempts to stack two sand castles on top of each other. You pause at the door, unsure of how to greet the situation but are saved the awkward entry as Skrit scuffles up to you with a very battered brown leather book.

"Read that's if you wants' something" he lisps out before moving to the large messy desk and beginning to clear away empty sake bottles. The bottles distract you for a moment as you take in the pretty containers that are made of frosted glass with goldfish painted over the surface. You find it hard to believe by the sheer number of them that the mistress of the establishment had finished them all herself. Perhaps that explained the sandcastles?

"Skrit finds that specials for you" The pygmy looks at Lady Rouge pointedly for a moment before sighing and pointing at the scrappy brown book in your hands. "She was goings to trashes it"

Lady Rouge: "No comment. This story was buried for a reason"

Interested despite yourself, you take a seat in your normal chair and flick the cover open. It can't hurt to take a look.

Songfic xxxHolic fan-fiction of a sort. Disclaimer: Clamp owns it. I borrow because they just have so much unwritten potential. Song: Leona Lewis – My Hands. God damn FF13 Trailer! Hearing that for 9 hours a day at work… Little wonder where this monstrosity came from!  
Genre: ...Angst? And Romance? There was a Bloody reason it was buried!  
Rating: (M) to be safe. Bits get a little violent here and there.  
Warnings: The main story is between two guys. Don't Like? Don't Read. Also, I like to make people cry. I will not apologize!

Lady Rouge: This song is not my normal listening genre, it just won't leave me. Therefore I may as well put it to good use.

* * *

Prologue

It was not as he had imagined it would be.

The earth did not break, rain didn't pour from the heavens, and the stars did not dance. He had simply opened the door one night, and she had been standing there. A fourteen year old vision in a simple school uniform, her dark hair flowing freely around her shoulders and her red eyes smiling at him with an unworldly humor.

Over a hundred years after she had left, the shops master had returned.

There had been no formal procession as the shop had changed hands. She had simply taken his hand gently and pulled him forward until he had stood at the front gates, at the very edge of the shops reality.

"Thank you Kimihiro Watanuki. Your price has been paid in full" Her soft hand had moved to his chest, right above his heart. "Now you don't have to live alone anymore. Live, and finally find your true happiness"

She had pushed, and he had fallen.

As his body tumbled to the asphalt on the other side, the rain had fallen with him. In the real world the rain had been falling for hours, and quickly went about assimilating him into its reality. In moments he was soaked to the bone, the ornate kimono he had been wearing turning to a waterlogged burden of see-through white silks and fraying embroidery.

The pain had come suddenly.

Still face down on the pavement where he had fallen, Watanuki grazed his bottom lip as his mouth tore open in a scream. His chest seized up, and pins and needles flowed in every vein of his body. Bones shattered and ligaments tore themselves into new shapes. His scalp burned as if all his hair was being torn out, and his clothes shredded themselves as his figure _transformed_. His hands fisted in pain, and his body withering in agony. He could not have told you when he came to be kneeling, yet as he twisted the gold cord that had hung an innocent moon ornament at his throat constricted and began to choke him. Grasping the gold, he ripped it from his neck and arched his back as a new wave of agony assaulted him. Arms and legs that had already been long and graceful elongated to proportion with his growing frame. His dark hair that had been cropped short flowed in a sudden bloom until it fell onto the street beneath him, and in a final act of cruelty, his scream deepened as it hit its crescendo and his vocal cords ripped his throat raw.

He was no longer a boy. He was now a man.

He slumped forward as the pain subsided and released him from its administrations, but even the cold concrete did not sooth the burn that still pumped in his blood. Somewhere in the back of his clouded mind, a voice told him that it was his magic, reacting to this dimension and growing with his body. Within moments, it was a raging torrent that pounded in his ears and made his teeth ache. The pressure was building, and the little that he had learned of his powers was not enough to contain the thunderous surge that was hammering through him now.

He needed a release.

Hands moving without a conscious thought, they reached out and found the first thing that they could grasp. The moon ornament that had hung against his throat during the day dug into his hand and sliced it open effortlessly. Blood flowed out as easily as the rain fell down, and suddenly, the magic had a destination.

The agony moments before had only been a precursor.

Watanuki's sight blacked out as he released another scream into the night. Both hands closed over the ornament, and the golden shard made quick work of them. Magic shattered and ripped all in its way as it flowed into its new home. His blood glowed silver as it left his mutilated hands, flowing both into the gold moon, and down with the rain to pool about his broken self. The rain stopped as the sky rumbled and the clouds split, pouring clear white light onto the scene from the real lunar host above.

Watanuki had received a blessing from the moon itself.

The red eyes that watched on filled with tears at the sight. Without the pain it would have been beautiful. Holding her hand out just beyond the threshold of the store, the girl held out a handful of sakura blossoms. They were taken by the wind instantly and spiraled away in the shape of a swallowtail butterfly, the rain mysteriously doing nothing to hinder their progress.

"Thank you Kimihiro Watanuki. Your price has been paid in full"

The glow subsided, but did not quiet vanish as Watanuki's body slumped onto the concrete for a second time. The body had grown, the magic had been passed, and the moon had blessed its new caster. Her job was done now. There was only one thing left.

"You must go now; this chapter of your life is over and you will never see this shop again"

Glazed blue eyes watched on distantly as the lights of the shop went out one by one. The trees vanished, and the lot before him became insubstantial to his sight. 'No' he thought absently, reaching towards the fence as the wood shimmered a myriad of rainbows. 'Please, this place is my home; I know nothing of the world anymore!'

"You must go now; you must find a new purpose in this new world."

"Please I have a wish!" he choked out, his voice a little more than a rasp as panic forced clarity back into his eyes. The shop owner simply looked at him as the lot continued to vanish. 'Please don't do this…'

"I'm sorry Kimihiro Watanuki, but I cannot grant that wish. You must go now; and live"

There was no bright flash and no loud noise. The stars didn't dance, and earth didn't break. The shop simply faded away in a patter of rain. The clouds closed above, and the heavy rain began to fall once again on the wreck of a man far below. The world returned to its normal state and life moved on.


	2. Chapter 2

A few miles away, Shizuka Doumeki sat bolt upright in bed, dripping in sweat and panting heavily.

It was just a dream? Taking a deep breath, he ran his fingers through his hair and regained his composure. In all his years as head priest in the temple, that had been the most vivid Dream he had ever witnessed. Who had those children been? Flicking on the light on his night stand, he looked out the window at the moon that was flooding its light through the glass.

That man… why did he seem… familiar?

Kimihiro Watanuki.

The name meant nothing to him.

Never the less the scene had shaken him. Climbing from his futon, he moved to the sliding door that led to the temples courtyard. He would need fresh air as he composed his thoughts. The doors were noiseless as they slid open easily, and a soft wind ruffled the scene before him. The rain that had ceased falling hours ago had left the garden fresh, and the moonlight lit the remaining dew drops to sparkle spectacularly.

The serenity gave him a moment to breath. Magic didn't charge the air and the world was turning as it should be. Still there was something off in his garden. Something was there that shouldn't be…

As he watched, the sakura trees rustled with a different purpose than the purely elemental, and he narrowed his eyes. Their perfume scented the wind as a coil of the small pink blossoms lifted into an arc and spiraled in his direction. He held his arms defensively before him. If this was an attack…

The petals fell at his feet, completely motionless.

They had fallen into a beautiful array of a swallowtail butterfly.

Without a second thought, Shizuka returned to his room only long enough to pull on his traditional robes and retrieve his bow. Moments later, his sandaled feet were running silently across the courtyard. It had not been a dream then, it had been a vision.

That child had been real.

No not a child. The man had been real.

And he was being sent for. The red eyed girl in his dream floated to the front of his mind as he turned out into the streets. She had not been a child either. There had been a depth of wisdom in her eyes that had spoken to him of ages. Ages of pain, Ages of burdens. She had been a very ancient soul, and she had been powerful. He had read books on ones such as her in his grandfather's storehouse. Fate twisters Haruka had called them. Potentially the most dangerous creature he would ever come across and one that he knew he should not take for granted.

The question was, were either of the magicians a danger to the town?

As the Village's head Shinto priest, he was responsible for keeping the people in the area safe from the attacks of the supernatural. Would this man be one more foe that he needed to defeat? Would the red eyed witch be a problem that needed to be 'sent' from this world? His grip tightened on the bow in his hands. The sun would be up soon. He did not have much time.

~*~

Watanuki lay on the pavement, knowing that death was not far off. He could feel it in the cold that had soaked into his bones and in the blood that was still flowing freely from his lacerated hands. He did not have much time left. 'Strange' he thought distantly as he watched the rivulets of red leak into the puddle it had been steadily making for over an hour now. 'When I woke today, this was the last thing that I thought would happen'

He couldn't move, he had tried.

Whatever had happened to his body though had destroyed his muscles. He had tried to move when it had first happened, making it almost to his feet before vertigo had assaulted him and his limbs had given way beneath him. It had earned him a spectacular bruise on his cheek and a furious head spin. After that moving had been out of the question entirely. In the end it would be the loss of this ability that killed him.

Because he could feel them.

Lurking just out of his view, fleeing from shadow to shadow as they waited for the moment they could creep forward. Spirits of undeath and the supernatural. The parasites that had haunted him since birth, the very reason he had found business with the shop to begin with. With whatever his body had left, he was keeping them at bay, his Keikai that he had worn easily enough in all his dream ventures still resolutely holding out.

But it was fading, and they were gaining ground.

He considered simply releasing it. Dropping the barrier and letting them fall upon him in a murderous cloud, but he was afraid. Death was not something he wanted and he certainly did not want to die to them. Having his flesh torn from his bones as his immortal soul was devoured was a fate he wished on no person.

_~he died that way~_

Tears fell as the thought entered his head unbidden. 'Yes I deserve this fate' he thought as memories cycled his mind. Memories of a tall dark haired man smiling. Of that same man promising to bring the ingredients of a complicated dish home, just so he could get a rise out of his friend. Memories of the errand he had sent him on… and then the blood. It had happened over a century, but the memories felt like yesterday. They always did.

The barrier fell as the first signs of light returned to the sky.

It did not happen how he imagined it. The spirits did not surge forth in a mad frenzy for flesh. In fact, they scattered as a darker entity entered their proximity. It was a Big Shot, he could see as the dark creature took even steps towards him. It was in a human form, and it was grinning at him sadistically. Clearly it found the sight of him delicious, and it waited no time before falling upon him and taking its fill. The gold moon pendant glittered feet away, and no amount of mad scrambling brought it to his hands. Desperately he tried to summon what magic was left to him, and forced his hands to move and shield him from his attacker.

The spirit had laughed at him.

Catching his hands easily the mass of solid darkness pinned them above his head, its vile hot breath washing over his face as it smiled inches above the flesh of his throat. He knew it was sensing his nature and purity, and he also knew what that could possibly mean. If luck as on his side, the creature would simply tear his throat out and leave it at that. Death would be swift, and he would die pure and chaste.

"_Such a beautiful thing I have found thrown in the gutter_" it rasped as it tore open the neck of his kimono and revealed his collar bone. "_Did she not want you anymore_?"

Mutilated hands tried to find purchase, tried to find something he could grasp to push or throw the creature away, but pinned and weak he could do nothing. Twisting his hips he tried to kick at it and promptly found his legs pinned by a heavy weight.

"_Yes please struggle. Please fight me"_ it purred as it's free hand continued to rip open the front if his kimono. Teeth descended on the exposed flesh, and with a sickening crunch, Watanuki's collar bone was broken. The scream that followed seemed to be music to the creature's ears.

"_Oh yes, that's right_" the spirit cooed, lapping at the blood it had brought forth. '_Scream. Scream and hate me so that your soul darkens_"

As the tongue descended, Watanuki thought of simply ending it. There was no one left in this world to come to his rescue. The shop was gone, and his friends were long dead. The friendships he had made with the supernatural could do nothing in this situation, and there was no chance that an arrow of light would lance from the darkness now. He had seen to that when he had sent his protector to his death.

"_Your flesh is delicious human, those around you were so wasteful not to sample you whenever they could_" the spirit broke a rib as it tore the obi from his limp form and delighting in the sound it solicited, broke another in pure spite. "_But I will bind you to my service. You will be mine in death eternal_"

Every magician knew how to take his own life with the arcane. A spell that had been written in almost every magic book he had come across and required only consciousness from the caster. It had been designed to release the magician if he had ever cast a spell that constricted him eternally in the throes of agony, or to allow him escape from an arcane prison. The process of this spell floated to the forefront of his mind as the disgusting black mass pulled open the front of his kimono robe completely exposing his body to the night.

A gold arcane circle spread out in the street beneath his body.

The spirit spat at his action and hastened its work. Dull blue eyes smirked at the creature with what strength he had left as it raked cruel claws down the his sides, splitting the skin all the way from beneath his ribs to the bottom of his thighs and splattering a neat fount of blood over the scene. It would get no further response however as darkness clouded Watanuki's vision.

He was almost gone.

Gold eyes stared into his the moment his eyes closed and lips descended on his in a chaste kiss. The spirit had failed. He would be going to a better place after this after all. Cradled in a warm embrace, Watanuki felt that he could finally release. He would be happy here.

"No" a deep voice whispered by his ear. "I've moved on to a new life, but it's not your time yet"

Blue eyes looked up despairing.

"No please you can't send me back! The spirit…" Those lips again sealed off any further protest.

"Trust me Kimihiro" all resolve melted at the sound of his given name. "Didn't you promise me? That you would live?"

A brilliant flash of light obscured his vision. Distantly above him he heard a sickening scream and suddenly his body was so much lighter. There was a clatter to his left that sounded vaguely like a piece of wood being thrown to the road and suddenly heavy feet were pounding in his direction. A hand reached out and was cautiously placed against his neck to find a pulse and once the hands owner found one, Watanuki heard him breathe a sigh of relief.

He had been found.

The golden array beneath his body vanished as the stranger began tearing off strips of his destroyed kimono to staunch the bleeding wounds that ripped his body. So he would live after all. He would keep his promise. Safe at the hands of this Good Samaritan, Watanuki felt his consciousness begin to waver. He wanted to open his eyes and look at the nameless face of his rescuer, perhaps thank them before drifting off into the peaceful nether of sleep. That just wasn't an option however as his body completely surrendered to his exhaustion.

"Hey can you hear me?"

There were many rules of the universe that Kimihiro had learnt during his time as store owner and 'Dimensional magician'. He had learnt the law of equivalent exchange, that nothing came without a price. He had learnt the true face and nature of Karma as well as gained the ability to see the prices of requests. He had learnt of the worlds of dreams, and he had met a million people in his time, each with their own heart and story. He had learnt that the blue prints of any one soul repeated over and over in thousands of dimensions. He had met the same person for the first time quite a few times in his travels and though his clientele. The same man in a million walks of life. They had taught him so much of existence. The reasons people lived had been for many truly beautiful purposes. To protect and be protected. To nurture, and to grow. To love and be loved in return.

The single most important lesson that he had learnt in his life however was that no matter the circumstance, and no matter the wish; once a person dies, that person was dead. There was no way to bring a person back.

He knew. Despite the pain and deliria that was threatening to crush his mind. Despite the way his chest suddenly constricted and tears filled his eyes, that this was not _his_ Shizuka Doumeki. This man had never met him before, and Watanuki had never existed in his life prior to this meeting. This was not an instance where his time had been reversed for him to relive his memories. The man holding him now was not connected to him by the same string that had bound his lover to him.

But by the hells he looked like it.

"Don't you dare die on me"

Intense golden eyes stared into his face as rough hands continued to bind his wounds and control his bleeding. His eyes had sprung open the moment the sound had reached his ears, but now he wanted them to close and never open again.

He would live, but fate was cruel.

_Didn't you promise me? That you would live?_


	3. Chapter 3

Kimihiro Watanuki would never have the use of his hands again. That had been the diagnosis from the doctor that had seen to the man's mutilated body when Doumeki had brought the man to the hospital, still wrapped in what was left of his kimono. The wounds run too deep he had said, running almost to the bone in some parts and completely killing the nerves and muscles that controlled movement. He had also shattered almost every bone they contained, the breaks only stopping where his wrists started. It was going to be a horrible disability to live with, and the most he could hope for was for the skin to patch over with scar tissue. Cosmetics could be an option he had told Doumeki, but when the priest had stared at him rather blankly the doctor had simply coughed politely and left the room.

The priest radiated displeasure, and the staff were careful to enter only when they needed to.

The questions had been very accusing when he had first arrived. The police had even been involved and had questioned him on every detail of the horrific scene that they had found sprayed in blood, eager to find the man who could commit such a heinous crime. Knowing that the story of dreams and the supernatural would be laughable to the officers he left those parts out, content to simply recount an early morning walk that had stumbled onto the appalling scene. After an hour of ruthless interrogations they had settled into the idea that the priest really had just stumbled across the whole thing. Of course he was still a suspect, but they decided to concentrate their efforts on the local yukuza. Doumeki had been left to his own devices, and seething, he had returned to Watanuki's bed side.

As he watched the man sleep he grit his teeth and tried his best not to slam his fist into the plaster wall beside him.

Damn he had been too late!

All thoughts that this man could potentially be a menace to society had vanished the moment he had found the spirit hulking over the frozen form in the alley. Trepidation had instantly been replaced with panic and in a blind anger he had loosed his arrow in record time. Still it had not been fast enough. He could have run faster! He could have remembered that vacant lot from his dream; he had walked past it before! He could have…

The man on the bed stirred slightly in his sleep and pain crossed his face briefly.

Unsure of what compelled him, Doumeki laid his hand across the man's brow and sighed in relief as the pained expression disappeared. The anesthetic must have been doing wonders. Mutilated hands had not been the only injury the Watanuki man had sustained from his encounter. Glancing at the patient sheet clipped to the board above his bed, the priest grimaced. Multiple impact fracture on his collar bone, two broken wrists, internal bleeding below the diaphragm and fractures in both femurs and both humerus. Apparently the bones that had been stretched magically moments before had been as fragile as glass and the spirit had not been gentle. Each muscle that had been lacerated was a bit more of a mouthful to list out, but suffice to say the list had been long. Not only had the sinister creature ripped its victims side open to release his blood, Doumeki had destroyed it in the process of its claws tearing a rather nasty gash that extended from the inside of his knees up along…

He had at least not been so late that the man had suffered that indignity.

The wounds had stopped an inch from the top of his legs.

"Excuse me sir" the voice of an attending nurse startle him. He had not even noticed that she had entered. Removing his hand from the man's forehead, he turned to address the girl and ignored the pitying look she slung his way. "I am very sorry sir, but I must ask you a few more questions for your friend's medical forms" She really did have the grace to look apologetic about her intrusion and Doumeki felt sorry for the girl. The staff had done a fantastic job of saving Watanuki's life, and he knew he was being difficult. A curt nod beckoned her to enter.

"I'm sorry! But we have no address or birth details for him and our records have nothing against his name. Is he from another city?

After the dream, the attack, and fourteen hours of sitting by the man's hospital bed, Shizuka Doumeki suddenly felt a rush of shame at knowing nothing more about this man except his name. His lack of answers for the officers earlier had helped to prove his innocence, but this girl had just called Watanuki-san his friend. Most of the staff must have assumed that the two were close, with the way that the monk had steadfastly refused to leave the man's side. He had rationalized it at first. Had put it down to the fact that this man was a strong magician who was putting the lives of all the doctors at risk just by their being in contact with him. He had also thought that it was only natural to be curious if he lived or died. Fourteen hours later though, he knew what kept him by this man's side.

Guilt.

The feeling was churning in his stomach. He had been sent for! That red eyed girl had shown him the dream to ensure that someone had come looking for the man, so that he had been protected until he could get medical help. He had failed his task, and the outcome had been horrifying.

"He's a friend" the lie tumbled out so easily it made him sick. There was no reason but selfishness for him to lie to this girl, a desperate ploy to patch his own pride. "He was visiting me from the country"

"Oh that must explain his lack of birth records, he must have only been reported to a smaller shrine" the girl quickly jotted something down on her forms and looked up to ready to attack him with another question. "Do you know the names of his parents?"

There was no easy way to lie about that one, so he simply shook his head.

"Oh, well how about his birthday?" Damn questions. Still a birthday was not something terribly dangerous to guess at, and it would be something a friend should have known. Sudden inspiration hit him as he glanced once more at the man's face.

Kimihiro Watanuki.

"He was born on the first of April" He looked to be the same age as himself, so he gave his own birth year although he knew it was incorrect. The boy had been forced to age rapidly, so by all rights he should be much younger. He doubted they would believe him however if he told them the birth year of a sixteen year old.

"And lastly a residential address. We may need to contact his local hospital to either organize a caretaker or guardian to come and take him home-"

"He will be staying with me" this had not been a lie. He may have known nothing of Watanuki-san, but he did know that he had been turned out of his home. The man was now alone, and be damned if Shizuka was going to throw him out to the wolves after he received those injures (at his negligence).

He had given her his details and she had left. As little as a month, she had said on her way out the door. His discharge could come that little bit earlier with a fulltime caretaker. It was good that the man had such a good friend!

His anger really had come to the forefront after she had left. Feeling utterly disgusted with himself, Doumeki slammed his fist into the wall and watched the plaster flake slightly. The pain was refreshing, but did nothing for the torrent of self loathing that was plaguing him.

_He will never have the use of his hands again_

"My hands… will protect you" he murmured as he looked down and saw that pained look flit across the man's features once more. "I will be there next time"

In his core, Shizuka felt that these were the right words. He honestly felt like he was making the right choice, in choosing to stay by this broken man and swore to himself on pain of death that he would make his pledge true.

If he had known what life would be like when the man finally opened his eyes however, he may have been much less resolute in his decision,

* * *

To be continued.

* * *

Medical terms explanation:

Lady Rouge smiles at you from atop a ridiculously tall stack of medical journals.

"For awhile there my parents really entertained the idea of my being a doctor."

Skrit: "Yes'. Pities six year olds can'ts read doctor books"

Whipping her pirate hat from her head Lady Rouge jams in onto the pygmy creatures, pulling it down so far it covers his eyes. She then sends him tottering in the direction of the stairs.

"If there is anything else that confused you, leave it in the review and I will PM you any information you require"

The diaphragm is a sheet of muscle slung underneath the lungs. When we breathe, the diaphragm contracts and relaxes. This change in pressure means that air is 'sucked' into the lungs on inhalation and 'pushed' out of the lungs on exhalation.

Femur: The longest and thickest bone of the human skeleton; extends from the pelvis to the knee.

Humerus: Bone extending from the shoulder to the elbow

Fracture: A partial or complete break in the bone


	4. Chapter 4

Authors note:

The Doors of H.E.N have been bolted shut as you have approached the last few weeks. Eager to at least get some form of closure, or perhaps to simply torch the place out of frustration, you decide to try one more time. As you enter the dark alley it's located on, you are stunned to watch a circus procession escape the doors of H.E.N at a sprint. It looks like a mad house! Clowns zoom past you in a frenzy as jugglers and freaks follow, all mixed up in a crazy whirl of pigs, mice and tigers. As striped hides and sequins disappear out of sight, you turn back to see Skrit standing at the door waving a broom at the retreating backsides. When he sees you, his face lights up instantly.

Skrit: "Now that theys are gone, you cans come back for stories!" he announces joyously, grabbing your hand and pulling you forward. Lady Rouge herself is also at the door and she offers you a curt nod before tossing you another leather bound volume.

"As with all things, relatives have a way of getting in the way and devouring time. I hope you have not minded the wait hmm?"

Thinking you Damn well have minded the wait, you sit on a chair near the entrance and begin to bury your nose in the book at once.

Skrit: (disclaimer) "We Don't owns it, so please do not be angry with us. We does not steals it"

* * *

Bonus chapter: Chapter Three

* * *

The glass of red wine was lowered in displeasure.

It was strange how this one movement set the mood of the surrounding room. The music that had been blaring out of the sound systems did not cease, but silence fell on every other aspect. The talking and the laughing stopped and even the movement all seemed to draw to one point.

The boss was angry.

This could be a very bad thing. The present companies had never seen the Oyabun react this way, and were worried about the ramifications. The man did not have the reputation of being gentle with any that displeased him. Had someone done something that had offended him? They cast suspicious glances at each other, trying to find the source.

They moved back as a collective as the doors to their private room parted.

Heads bowed as their shateigashira entered, his dark hair tied neatly at his neck and his suit starched as always, but somehow looking flustered. Ten men flanked him and they looked like they had been through a blender. They did not show the disrespect of wearing their torn uniforms in the presence of their Kumicho and had changed, but Blood was still trickling from lacerations all over their faces and hands. It did not take much consideration to guess that their injuries continued under their starched suits. They moved stiffly and blood was soaking through some men's blazers in parts.

The wine glass landed on the black glass table beside him with a definite _clink_.

At that point in time, anyone that did not_have_ to be in that room beat a quick exit.

Moments later only the wounded men and their shateigashira remained with the Boss. The doors clicked shut behind the crowd with finality as the music was unplugged and the full weight of the atmosphere sent the ten suited men to their knees in a respectful bow.

"Sir" Kyle Rondart bowed his head in grim resignation. This was not a report that he wanted to give. It was not going to end well.

"Sir we-"

"You lost her" The words cut in easily and the voice was dangerously devoid of tone. "Yes I assumed as much"

Kyle usually never had a problem with opening his mouth. He loved to be the first in the door, swaggering triumphantly before he regaled great battles and tense obstacles he had managed to defeat with ease. It tense deals Kyle was the voice of the organization in conference, and he also took the role of a saikō-komon; occasionally acting as the family's lawyer when they traded glancing blows with the law.

His enemies and underlings called him The Silver Tongued Weasel.

Charisma had gotten him both in and out of literally hundreds of situations in the past, and many joked that he didn't a sword in battle; that his tongue alone had cut him a spot to his seat. Today however, the usual air of confidence was gone completely. There was no way to smooth this situation over.

They had fucked up big time.

He'd be lucky to be allowed to _keep_ his tongue after this.

"Reed-sama she escaped at school, we knew nothing of her departure from class!" a cue ball thug slammed his head against the floor as he bowed profusely. "She scaled the wall from the second story bathrooms!"

"The teacher responsible for giving her a bathroom break has been dealt with!"

"Please Reed-Sama forgive us!"

Silence followed as the men on the floor sweated a verdict.

"They are dismissed"

Kyle closed his eyes as the men behind him released the breaths they had been holding and filed out hastily. He was sure they had viewed their dismissal as forgiveness. Of course they did. They were lowly grunts after all with no magic in their blood.

They couldn't even sense the man waiting for them in the corridor.

Kyle chose to block out the sounds of their screams as he recounted a much more informative account of their story.

"Sir she broke the barriers that we had in place. We still don't know where she learnt how to do it, but she managed to leave this world"

Reed digested this information sourly as he swirled the contents of his wine glass. The brow above his monocle creased slightly as the doors opened once again. A man entered, an inverted pentagram glowing faintly on the back of his blood drenched hand. The amused grin on the man's face told him all he needed to know of the fate of the men who had just left.

"And what of equilibrium?"

The new occupant of the room did not bow a knee, but the group's wakagashira had never been the type to submit to such blatant shows of servitude. Instead, he swaggered in calmly and helped himself to an abandoned glass of champagne that had been relinquished by one of the previous guests. Unlike Kyle, the assassin had no need to grovel, his news was good news.

"She did a trade. The world is still in perfect balance." Seishirou Sakurazuka was never wrong. Silent and methodical, if he stated that the world would end in three minutes, there was not a man who knew him that would not begin to make peace with his gods. So when he stated that the balance had remained stationary, Reed had no reason to disbelieve him.

So Yuuko still meant to fight him. Through an avatar perhaps, but it was good to know that her hate had not diminished any even though she had escaped his hold.

At this the kumicho allowed a grin to his face.

"I assume that you have greeted this balance accordingly?"

A single eye amber eye studied Fei Wong Reed with bridled amusement. There was no need for a verbal answer but Seishirou gave one anyway.

"He is marked"

The glass of red wine met a smile as it was raised to meet the lips of Japans most ruthless Yakuza Boss.

"Good. Then it will be amusing to see how this unfolds"

~*~

A dimension away, tears leaked from red eyes as the mistress of the shop watched on, now powerless to help.

'_I'm so sorry'_ she whispered, taking what comfort she could from her guardians. '_Please realize my gift… before it's too late.'_

_

* * *

  
_

Definition of the Yakuza terms used:

The Yakuza have a very complex organizational structure. There is an overall boss of the syndicate, the _kumicho_, and directly beneath him are the _saiko komon_ (senior advisor) and _so-honbucho_ (headquarters chief). The second in the chain of command is the _wakagashira_, who governs several gangs in a region with the help of a _fuku-honbucho_ who is himself responsible for several gangs. The regional gangs themselves are governed by their local boss, the _shateigashira_.

Lady Rouge: "I'm using Yakuza, but won't swap you with strange terms. Once I initially introduce their positions, I will try not to overly refer to the Yakuza structure. It is more the power they wield and who is in a position to oppose them that will come to the forefront."


	5. Chapter 5

The beach held happy memories for Kimihiro.

It had only been in the later part of their life, but after a time Watanuki had truly mastered the art of dream walking. Time and space no longer separated him from the three most precious people in his world as he suddenly gained the ability to not only channel a destination for his consciousness, but also the ability to invite those he visited into a dreamscape of his creation. Kohane and Himawari had been thrilled to be able to visit Watanuki as often as they had wanted, no matter how far apart their physical shells were and even Doumeki had been happy to see Watanuki somewhere other than the shop. Their favorite dreamscape had been the beach.

Watanuki could only remember having ever visited one beach, the time that Yuuko had taken them to her holiday house in a ploy to have Watanuki ask for Doumeki's help in warding spirits. This jaunt had ended in failure, but it had still been a good outing and therefore a happy memory for Watanuki and one he recalled easily.

_The sun lit up her face, and made her smile just that little brighter. She was gorgeous, standing in the surf as small waves lapped at her ankles, playfully splashing the amber eyed god beside her. They made a stunning couple, she in her cute little swimming costume and he in his swimming trunks, bare chested beneath the sun. Watanuki had looked on the pair with heavily shielded awe. She had laughed and thrown a beach ball to her companion who had caught it easily and grinned as he had thrown it back. The emotion had shocked Watanuki at the time, and his breath caught in his chest as those amber eyes slid in his direction and the expression had become solemn once more._

"_I'm still here Doumeki, don't think an ocean can keep my beautiful Himawari-chan from me!" He had called out sulkily. "You haven't won yet!"_

_Yuuko had just laughed at him and asked for another iced tea. _

He had been such an idiot.

Years later he had realized that Doumeki's expression had fallen not because Watanuki was at the beach that day, but because he was not joining them.

Even that early there had been…

He had been so ignorant.

It had been Kohane that had asked for it. Eager to give the girl anything she could ask of him freely, Watanuki had conjured the location in an instant, and had this time enjoyed the water as it had lapped at his knees. Doumeki had stood at his side, that same grin that had surfaced the first visit a permanent fixture this time as they watched the girls splash off in the direction of a nearby rock pool.

"You know, you still haven't asked me for help yet" Doumeki had reminded him, taking a threatening step away from the seer as he feigned returning to shore. "I should leave you out here"

Bringing his own smirk to his lips Watanuki had flicked his wrist casually, summoning a small wave that had washed Doumeki back to his side. Doumeki had been surprised at the waters action, and Watanuki had used this lapse in defense to slip round in front of the young man and place a teasing finger under his chin.

"I'll never ask you for help Doumeki"

"Hmmm"

Bronze arms had moved quickly, and within moments one had snaked around his waist and the other had scooped his knees out from under him. As he was lifted out of the water, Watanuki had given a very undignified yelp and Doumeki's grin had widened as he had started to wade out to deeper water.

"Put me down!"

"Hmmm not yet"

"Doumeki! The water is freezing!"

From their spot watching on the beach, Kohane and Himawari had burst into a fit of giggles at the sight of Watanuki clinging to Doumeki's neck and avoiding the water like a cat.

"Wasn't there something you wanted to ask me?" Gold eyes had glinted with humor as he asked, and blue eyes had narrowed in response.

So Doumeki was going to play dirty huh? Well, he wouldn't win that easily.

Watanuki had known the boy for too many years now to let his challenges go un-answered. With the revelation of his dormant ability to change his dream worlds at his whim, Watanuki had been delighted to discover that he had his own collection of counter attacks that he could subject Doumeki to when he became too incessant or annoying. This situation shouldn't need anything more than…

"Doumeki" leaning in to whisper in his captor's ear, Watanuki almost smiled at the shiver he felt run through the man's chest. He knew he had his complete attention now and could feel amber eyes looking down at him intently. Good, he would not even see it coming until it was too late.

"Errands, ingredients and chores maybe, but I will never ask you for help"

A flick of his wrist had a six foot wave completely smother the both of them.

Gold eyes had smiled as they had surfaced.

Why did he need to ask, when they had an understanding beyond words?

~*~

The inside of his eyes twitched in their waking moments.

Still half in his dream, the man suddenly felt a heavy wave crash over him, pulling him into heavy darkness.

He was drowning.

Breathe!

A wayward arm moved a hand to his chest, but the flaccid fingers could do nothing to ease him. Instead the heavy weight of the bandages weighed on his lungs and felt as if they would crush him before he flung the offending lump of flesh back to his side.

Damn useless! Breathe!

Snapping his eyes open, the dark haired man opened his mouth to air and forced his lungs to inflate. Blessed oxygen flooded him before he expelled it in a breathy sigh. The next lungful was not so difficult as his brain woke and began to gently remind his lungs how to manage the new inhalation techniques that his doctors had shown him. It had taken a full afternoon getting the hang of it after they had turned off the machine that had done his breathing for him and he often still woke from sleep gulping like a landed fish. It was getting easier to manage, but the first few breaths when waking were always heavily labored.

Some days he considered not even bothering to try them.

He had done so on the third day of waking, but it was little use. Ten minutes later had seen an emergency doctor smiling down at him and welcoming him back again.

Still, Breathing was not the most difficult aspect of Watanuki's days now. Breath could still enter and exit his body relatively easily. Fluids could pass, blood flowed where it should and in time, the doctors had assured him that his body would heal and regain complete mobility again. Everything except…

Six weeks after his tragic entry to this new world, the doctors had proclaimed Kimihiro Watanuki a marvel of natural science. His healing rate they had said was unworldly. The fractures that should by all rights have taken six months to heal in casts and with the aid of metal pins had healed to the point of a four month time lapse. The deep tissue wounds that had marred his sides had scarred over beautifully. A week awake had seen solid foods passed and within two, he had been able to stay conscious for periods longer than an hour.

But his hands would never heal.

It had been frightening, the first day that he had woken and been unable to move. His attending Doctor, a brunette man that had introduced himself kindly as Dr Kinomoto had come in the moment he had regained consciousness and offered him a bright smile.

"Welcome back" he had said gently as he slid his glasses up his nose. Watanuki had gone to make the same movement himself only to find his body jolted with pain.

"Please rest easy now Watanuki-san, you don't want to strain yourself! Many of your bones are still healing!" The tubes that had run into his mouth and nose suddenly became very apparent. Panic had flooded him and he felt his lungs inflate too far as he struggled to take a breath around the plastic in his throat.

"No let the machine do it for you!" Dr Kinomoto had ordered sternly as Watanuki's sight had begun to glaze. He tried to do as ordered, but the panic was beginning to cloud his mind and suffocate him.

"Nurse I think we are going to have to sedate him, he hasn't got enough self conscious yet!" Kinomoto had ordered a drug by name from his staff, but it had made no sense to the asphyxiating man. The pain was obscuring everything.

His body was mutilated!

Through wide glazed eyes he took in the sight of the bloodied gauze that was wrapped to the sides of his body.

The claws! The claws had torn him apart!

His chest heaved as he tried to move his arms and legs all heavily covered in bandages and casts. He tried to flail to free himself!

Tried to move his arms!

Nothing had happened. Not so much as a finger had moved.

His Fingers…

The first time that Watanuki had woken had been while a nurse was re-wrapping the bandages on his right hand. The moment she had seen the young man stir, she had abandoned her job and run to retrieve his Doctor. She had left his hand unwrapped…

That was not a hand!

That was hideous! A mass of scarred, angry, red and purple flesh lay on the bed where his hand should have been. Swollen sausages twice the size of normal ballooned where there should have been fingers. Gently weeping wounds had covered the surface and a nasty shading bruise stretched from palm to the wrist where the skin disappeared beneath a white cast.

That was not his Hand! Dear Kami no, that was not his hand…

A mournful cry had filled the hospital room as Dr Kinomoto finally managed to administer the sedative. The sound had set the doctors jaw stiff as he closed his eyes and waited for his patients anguish to fade. He didn't tell Watanuki to be quiet. He felt that the young man had every right and more to show his pain. Cases like this were never easy he had said quietly beneath his breath as Watanuki's eyes had slowly slid closed.

A part of the now invalid man never wanted them to open again. Despair flooded his mind in the last moments he had had conscious thought and he suddenly became overwhelmed with a torrent of self loathing and pity. Why had they kept him alive like this? How had they thought that his life would have been worth living?

_Don't you dare die on me._

_Didn't you promise me? That you would live?_

A memory of amber eyes had calmed it all as he had fallen into darkness.

The next time he had awoken, he had been more aware of his situation and ready to accept the chance of modern medicine healing him. His hands had been wrapped by his sides this time, and he had been careful to not even glance in their direction. Slowly he had begun to heal physically but the anguish had never left. Even now, Watanuki could not stand to see his hands un-bandaged.

He could do nothing on his own.

Daily tasks that he had taken for granted his whole life were now impossible for him. He could not Scratch an itch or adjust a blanket.

Brush his hair or clean himself.

He could not pick up a cup of water from his bedside table when he was thirsty nor hold a book open to pass the time. The idea of ever writing with a pen, shaking someone's hand in greeting or cooking again was depressing and completely impossible for him now. He would have to rely on the aid of another for the rest of his mortal life.

The thought had frustrated him. He did not want to rely on someone else to be in his intimate space. He had always thought of himself as a very proud man, and to now have to ask complete strangers to aid him in trifling matters seemed shameful. A full time care taker could be arranged for him until he could cope alone they had said, but he hated the idea. The very thought of another human to have to give up most of their own time for him was not a fair trade in his eyes, not matter what kind of payment they were receiving. Dr Kinomoto had spoken to him of techniques he would learn that could make his days easier. Of braces and tools he could use in interim of his hands that over time, would begin to feel natural and compensate his disability.

Watanuki had listened, but none of it really stuck with him. He honestly hadn't wanted to think about it.

On the morning of the Seventh week his denial in acknowledging his future had come to an abrupt end. After a rather uncomfortable morning of prods, pokes and pills, the doctors had declared that Kimihiro Watanuki had healed to a reasonable standard and he could return home if he so wished.

Of course the irony of the wording had not been lost on him.

He no longer had a home, and when he did, it had never been here.

This was not his world.

Oblivious to this, the kind nurse had plowed on in her happy announcement. "Now Watanuki-san, The Hospital has taken care of everything so you just relax now!" She had smiled cheerfully as she had brought in his lunch and began to set in out on a small table beside him. As she had pulled a seat over and picked up his fork, Watanuki had let out a deep sigh.

Not this again.

Unaware (or perhaps uncaring) of his discomfort, the girl had skewered a piece of chicken from Watanuki's lunch tray and held the fork just before his mouth.

"We will have you live with a carer of course, you're not going to be left alone!" she had chatted as he had opened his mouth and resigned himself to being force fed another revolting hospital meal. "But you'll get to be home again! I know you must be excited Watanuki-san, I would be if I were being let outta here and I hear the place you're staying is really beautiful"

Watanuki stopped chewing his food. 'The place you're staying?' He had living arrangements? Politely, he had inquired what she had meant.

"Why, that hunk of a monk of course" she had laughed as the color had drained from Watanuki's face. "That friend of yours that brought you in here. He arranged everything so you'll be staying with him all right from the very first day"

No.

"Must be good to have a friend like that" She had held another piece of his lunch before him, but Watanuki made no move to accept it. Instead he had asked her to leave.

It would not happen.

He would rather sleep in the streets first.

He knew better than any that Doumeki Shizuka was a kind and compassionate soul, but there was no way that Watanuki was going to associate with the shell of that man that existed in this world.

When Dr Kinomoto had entered later that afternoon and repeated the information to him, Watanuki had vehemently refused.

The doctor had been politely puzzled to put it mildly.

Here was a man that could not care for himself, steadfastly refusing the aid of an obviously morally righteous man. Dr Kinomoto had attempted to have a councilor confront him to try and worm an explanation out of him for this weird behavior.

Watanuki had endured her fluffy questions for almost an hour before she seemed to come to the ill-founded assumption that perhaps the priest had hurt him in some way. Indignant, Watanuki had chastised her appropriately and demanded that she leave his room and not return. Quiet reason from the nurses did not help either.

Eventually Dr Kinomoto had been left no choice but to confront him directly.

"It must be a very personal reason that you do not want to go to the Doumeki family shrine."

Listless, Kimihiro continued breathing deeply as he studied the now very familiar cracks in the roof above him trying to ignore the man. He had become very well acquainted to the white plaster cracks in his roof over the last two months. He had also taken the time to note the dirt streaks on the outside pane of glass the doctor called his window. He did not allow this classification to stand however. Window denounced a view to the outside, to sky and sunlight and earth. The pane of glass in his room however showed nothing but the slate wall of the neighboring ward.

He'd even had time to note a peculiar crack in the plaster wall just by his bed…

"I will respect your privacy if you wish, and you may elect to return to your own home in the country or we can add you to the list of applicants for our home care program" shuffling some papers doctor Kinomoto sighed before placing them gently on his bed side table.

"Thank you doctor" Watanuki listened as the other man took even steps and left the room.

'Finally another option' he though as he closed his eyes and took a steadying breath. Because he couldn't live with him. He couldn't look into those gold eyes again and not break down completely into the memories.

"He waited by your bed, you know" The sound of the doctor's voice at as he paused at the door had Watanuki opening his eyes once more. "He waited for you to wake up when we weren't sure you were going to."

"What does that matter to me?" Kimihiro asked slowly not bothering to turn and face the other man.

"Nothing" Kinomoto muttered, finding his feet and beginning to exit again. "But I want you to know; he cried when I told him you were back"

The door shut with a definite click.

A single tear streaked Watanuki's face.

Why?


	6. Chapter 6

Balance was giving, and taking away. He had gained his life, but lost his hands.

He understood this, but that didn't make it any easier for him to be optimistic over his situation.

* * *

A dream tossed Watanuki's rest as he took his last night's sleep in the hospital. Tomorrow would be the beginning of everything, and by some small grace he was being prepared.

_**Death. **_

_The air was rank with it. Many people had been killed here and the universe was straining with it._

"_**Death is heavy. It weighs on the universe, so those that know don't kill"**_

_The words of a mentor long ago flooded his mind as the dream around him shimmered and took him to a location. A court yard, walled by stone and containing a single cherry blossom tree. A small child with deathly pale skin sat in the boroughs of the tree, his black hair catching a single falling blossom as it broke away. _

_He was staring._

_So he had been summoned it seemed. If Watanuki had been seeing a vision, he would have been invisible to the boy. _

_The boy before him gave a soft smile._

"_**So you've figured it out. Very good"**_

_Watanuki took a breath and attempted to ask the obvious, but was cut short when he realized that he did not have a voice. Apparently he had not been brought here to have his questions answered. The boy in the tree gave him a thoughtful look before looking into the sky._

"_**It's good that you understand Watanuki-san. It will save me time that you do not have"**_

_The sky above that had been darkness and stars only moments before rippled and became transparent. Now it was as if Watanuki was seeing a vision laid over the stars through a sheet of water. _

_For the smallest of moments, like shimmering oil on water, Watanuki was sure that he could see the wing of a butterfly. _

"_**Timeless."**_

_The small dots of light that had been the backdrop suddenly became lights. Streets, like so many strands of slivery web suddenly twisted into existence, forming guidelines and framing the thousands of suburban blocks and towers that made up the city that was suddenly floating in the sky. _

_It was Tokyo. But it was not the Tokyo that had existed in the world Watanuki had lived before he took on the role of mastering the shop. This place was ahead of that time. Nothing he recognized was sprawled in the geography of the metropolis above him besides the eternal red tower at the heart of everything. _

"_**Pain."**_

_The scene changed._

_A mansion on a hill. All black stone and wrought iron, the building was built in the western style and while it was a beautiful combination of architectural design and tasteful aesthetics even a quick glance in its direction would tell you that it had been designed with security in mind. _

_It would not be easy to get into this place uninvited. The very vibe of the house screamed 'You will be hurt, approach at your own risk'. _

"_**Price."**_

_Suddenly Watanuki was in dark room. Three chairs set up like thrones stood at the far end. People sat in those chairs, but their profiles were nothing more than silhouettes. It seemed their identities would have to be discerned in the waking realm, but they were not what he had been brought here to see. Watanuki's heart stopped as a blood slicked figure hit the floor with a definite 'thump'. The person on the ground was not shaded out like the others and the look of desperation on his face as he looked at the dark figures was only too clear._

"_**Pride."**_

"_I will not stop… until you let them go"_

_Doumeki. _

_He was dying._

_Lying in a pool of his own blood, the young priest bore the wounds of a desperate battle. Broken bones and grazes were the most visible injuries, but Watanuki was certain that these were the least of his problems. A chest wound was slowly leeching his life. _

"_**Love."**_

_The scene changed again. Two shadowed forms that had locked swords fought ferociously. This was not a mere battle of wills, Watanuki realized as he watched their forms twist and dance around each other in a chirography reserved for true masters of the blade. They were attacking each other with barely bridled fury. _

_They had nothing else to live for. _

_They had nothing to lose._

_Because it had already been lost. _

"_**When you find what you are really looking for…"**_

A nurse shook his arm gently. "Watanuki - san..."

"_**Your hands…"**_

"Watanuki - san... It's morning time sir..."

He tried so hard to hang onto his dream, but it slipped through his mind like water in a sieve as a harsh light suddenly filled his senses.

The last thing he remembered seeing was a sword being thrust into a man's chest.

Hitsuzen.

* * *

The living arrangements in the Doumeki family shrine could be described as antique but inviting.

Many who had stayed at the temple overtime had been reluctant to leave after they had spent a few days in what could only be described as a place of peace and tranquility. The gardens were said to calm the spirit and the main house was a traditional statement of power, wisdom and protection. Before he had taken over the shop, Watanuki had wandered its well tended gardens and old rooms with the respect and dignity that was demanded by such a place. Quiet had clouded his footsteps and (provided that Shizuka had not been nearby to infuriate him) calm had tranquilized his mood. It had always seemed to him, a temple before it was a house. A place of reverence and power.

A holy place.

But never a home.

Sleep over's on a sterile futon and harsh tatami mats had always reinforced this ideal. The sparse way that Doumeki had furnished his room did not lend it the same homely feeling of reassurance that Watanuki's little apartment had always given him. On theses nights, despite the temple grounds being one of the safest places in the world for him, Watanuki had suffered some of his worst nights rest.

Perhaps that had always been one of the reasons he threw so much hostility in Doumeki's direction?

Once he had come into his powers of dream walking completely this feeling was a subconscious detail that he could not alter no matter how he tried. He had visited his Shizuka a few times in his own bedroom, when they had been on frigid terms with one another or when he wanted to have a serious discussion somewhere Shizuka would feel at ease. He had wanted it to seem that they were meeting on common ground but it often ended in them both feeling cold and irritated, no matter how Watanuki had tried to recreate the scene.

When Shizuka had died, Watanuki had vowed that he would never visit the place again, in dreams or otherwise.

But Hitsuzen had gotten its way after all and didn't seem to care about Watanuki's personal vices.

Today was the day.

Leaving the hospital seemed to be less of an ordeal than he had expected it to be. His final physicals had been completed in previous days, as the doctors ascertained that he would survive while not in their care. Prods, pokes, needles, blood tests and respiratory examinations had all come back with encouraging results. The 'Super man' as he had been dubbed by the hospital staff was healing at a fine pace. Doctor Kinomoto and a young nurse that had been attending him Miss Nakuru Akizuki delivered the final results to him with a bright smile.

"You will need to stay on your courses of medication for the next eight weeks" A container of pain killers and antibiotics had been provided while Watanuki had been packed up earlier in the morning. Akizuki-san; who had been the one there to routinely feed him his meals each day had even included written instructions in the lid so that there could be no confusion for his new carer. She had also included her personal telephone number, but Watanuki suspected that there was more of a personal connotation attached to that gesture than a professional one. He had hardly gone a day without having to hear the nurses lament that the 'handsome monk' didn't visit him anymore and that the 'pretty cripple' was leaving. (He was not 'pretty' thank you very much)

"… and then there is the physiotherapy that will continue but that aside Watanuki-san, you are now free from our company"

Watanuki accepted this with a resigned nod. It was good to know that he was healthy now. The doctor and his staff had done a great job, and he was trying not to let his trepidation at his future location impact on his show of gratitude.

It wasn't easy.

Years as a dimensional magician had taught him that when the universe nudged you in a particular direction there was probably a reason for it. Despite his immense reservations over the situation, Watanuki had caved into logic and allowed himself to agree to the living arrangements. He had decided that he would simply treat the oaf civilly and leave as soon as he was possibly able to care for himself.

This had all seemed fine enough as he had been talking himself into it but now that the moment had come, Watanuki was feeling distinctly _prickly_. Little comments were stabbing at his temper and for most of the morning he had found himself going over scenarios in his mind about his eventual meeting with the amber eyed monk. None of them had gone well or even remotely compared with the words 'polite' and 'aloof'. He had even conjured up a vision of becoming furious enough to punch the cocky idiot, but then he had remember that he couldn't punch people anymore and this only fueled his irritation. He had spent the remainder of the morning trying to come up with inventive ways to cause the idiot bodily harm.

None had come close to the satisfaction that he would have gotten out of a simple punch, but at least one or two had made him smile.

"That's pretty much everything" A wheelchair had been brought out at this point and Akizuki had helped him from his perch on the end of his hospital bed into the rough canvas seat. It bothered him somewhat as she adjusted his still wrapped hands into his lap. While his muscles were still very weak and he couldn't carry his weight for long amounts of time, he wasn't a complete invalid. "All the correct papers have been filled in, so now I leave you in the able care of Akizuki here"

"Thank you" Kimihiro paused briefly as he thought of something that should have occurred to him much earlier. "The price for all of this-"

"Has already all been taken care of" chimed Akizuki with a wide smile. "That monk friend of yours took care of everything!"

A vein twitched. Apparently even Doumeki doppelgangers possessed the gene for annoying interference where it was not wanted. Not that he had the money to pay for all of the treatment that he had received, or really had any personal possession that he could offer for their time. He had left every worldly item he owned back at the shop, and he doubted that he would ever get a chance to go back and retrieve them. He was officially a vagrant in this place and had no choice but to be a mooch for the time being.

_Debts are not always paid all at once._

Doctor Kinomoto's friendly smile had been interrupted at this point as his pager sounded. He checked it quickly and his face fell.

"Touya? But what is he…" It was more of a personal mutter but Watanuki didn't suppose it mattered if he heard it or not. For a moment the doctor's eyebrows met in the middle as he seemed to process a deep thought that he would rather not have had to, but just as quickly the look was gone as he shifted his attention back to the moment and sent Kimihiro a reassuring smile. A curt nod and a few whispered words to the young nurse next to him seemed to wrap up all the reason for his presence "If there is anything you need between checkups please don't hesitate to call. Take care Watanuki-san"

As simple as that and he was gone.

Nakuru's eyes lit up in a dangerous way as the 'click' from the door announced the doctor's departure as final.

Watanuki had been expecting something, but the look still made him wary. Although it was so long ago, he'd spent too much time in Yuuko's company not to recognize plotting the moment that it started. What was worse was that the girls believed that their plotting was called for, and that was the most dangerous type of plotting that there was.

They pitied him.

He'd not been deaf to the whispers of the young nurses during his stay. He had simply chosen to ignore them for the most part and try to preserve what little self appreciation he still had left.

Their thoughts and actions had not been unkind. Their phrases to one another had been well intended and had come from the fact that they genuinely cared about the fate of the poor disfigured cripple that 'must have once been such a popular man'. Talk of his beautiful looks and grace of countenance had been easy enough to dismiss as shallow chatter but their pity stung a little deeper.

'Poor thing. How will he be able to get dressed every morning?'

'I hear a carer will even have to bathe him for awhile, what an invasion of privacy!'

'I couldn't live like that! Imagine looking at those scars everyday!'

'He was brought in wearing shredded finery. I think he was a slave in a Yakuza sex den!'

'I hear about those people what a poor thing! I bet he stood up to one of those gangsters!'

'It makes sense how they mutilated his body then, so no one else could have him…'

'Have you seen his hands?'

The wild rumors had been offensive yet at the same time mildly amusing. Watanuki had let their imaginations run riot by not telling them what had happened to him, so he half expected them to make up their own versions of events. Still the overtone he heard every time was 'poor thing'. Being the proud young man that he was, it frustrated him to no end. He had always been a very independent individual and now that that was taken from him and another was forced into his personal space he found his outlook rather stormy.

He was past self pity.

Anger had now firmly set itself in his mind, and was only too easy to call up with a misplaced phrase or gesture. He struggled wildly to keep it from surfacing now. The girls were truly just being kind and it would be ill of him to break their kind intentions with a blunt refusal and admonishment.

"We are going to miss you Watanuki-san" she started as she walked around behind him and took to her job of wheeling him out of the room altogether too happily. "When we heard you were leaving for the shrine, we decided to each get you a little something"

"Thank you, but that really isn't necessary"

This earned him a playful tap on the head.

"Oh nonsense we insist! Besides do you really want to roll up to your new place in hospital clothes?" the knowing look that she directed at his slippers was rather uncalled for. "C'mon, I know you can't be comfortable in those"

The plain cotton clothes that had been provided by the hospital were perfectly reasonable to go out into public with, but they were a far cry from his usual raiment. Not that he was eager to be swathed in a revealing Kimono in front of this worlds Doumeki, but he did feel rather uncomfortable at the thought of wearing the white linen clothes day in, day out for the next few weeks. Perhaps having something else to change into while he washed those would be welcome. He could just imagine the Doumeki shell trying to help in that situation, and wasting even more money that Watanuki would have to eventually pay back on a ridiculous wardrobe full with clothes that he would never use.

"I'll be damned if I wear anything that _he_ gives me" he muttered venomously under his breath. "It will probably look stupid anyway, he never had any sense"

Seeming to ignore Watanuki's little personal exchange, Akizuki clicked her heels and walked just that little bit faster, a wide grin spread across her features as it became apparent that Watanuki was not going to refuse her.

"Trust me Watanuki, you're going to love it!"

* * *

A butterfly smiled as it fluttered between the window of a hospital ward and the slate wall of its neighbor.

This was a good start.

If only everything else fell into place so easily.

"_Find happiness in the calm Watanuki."_

A storm was coming. A strong gust of wind sent the thin wings tumbling away into the sky.

"_Find Happiness"_


	7. Chapter 7

A sneeze shattered the silence of the garden.

Dressed in very formal looking robes, Shizuka Doumeki straightened and discreetly passed his hand across his nose. The noise seemed to have startled him back to the moment at hand as well as worried the young woman before him off her train of thoughts.

"Doumeki-san?"

A slight hesitation as he lifted his eyes to meet hers and tried to re establish the tranquility that had been present only moments before.

"Are you ill?"

"No"

He had been sitting patiently in the main tea pavilion listening to the soft patter of rain. The cherry blossom season was just ending, and it was a pleasant temperature despite the down pour outside. _Comfortable_ he would have described as a setting mood, but the subject matter of his thoughts was much too congruent for peace.

"Doumeki- san, if this is a bad time, I can come back" the girl shifted as if to move, but Shizuka held out a placating hand. She settled back into her seated position and shifted her ornate kimono, clearly feeling as if she was intruding on Shizuka's time. The priest almost smiled at this. He doubted that it was normally in her nature to feel as if she were inconveniencing anyone with her presence.

"My apologies Kunogi-Hime, please continue"

He would arrive in just under an hour.

The rooms had been set and transportation schedules had been double checked. All preparations had been completed and issues accounted for. Everything was ready and yet Doumeki was finding it increasingly harder to pay attention to his daily duties as the time encroached.

Steeling himself with the discipline that had been impressed upon him from a young age, he once again put the matter out of his thoughts and turned his attention back to the task at hand.

He was with a client.

"You were saying that your father's men found the vase in a dilapidated building?"

With the prompt, the girl before him fell back into her story. She had been recounting a supernatural phenomenon that had been linked to a rather strange daffodil vase that had come into her family's possession when she was a child. Apparently the vase would mysteriously fill with flowers when left in the moonlight. Of course this had been a benign action so the family had not perceived this as a threat. However when one of their guards had mysteriously vanished while he had been peering onto the top of it, they had suddenly felt the need to have the vase looked at by a spiritualist.

"Yes the place where it was found was an old shrine that was scheduled for demolition"

The vase in question sat feet away from them on a green velvet cloth, and it was to the object that he now turned his attention.

It did not look like anything more than an antique vase. White with a beautiful blue motif of daffodils painted onto a mountain scene.

It did have a power though.

Looking deeper past the physical porcelain shell, Doumeki tried to discern the powers origin. He felt no taint or darkness from it, but the power was a conscious one. Carefully, so as not to provoke its powers into doing something dangerous with Kunogi-Hime sitting so close, Doumeki placed a hand on the objects shell and let his own power wash across it. He felt the foreign magic push back at his own, and a child's laugh suddenly rang through the room, crystal and sweet.

The vase vanished and all of a sudden a third person was sitting with them in the pavilion.

She was a young girl dressed in finery that was not of this world. A beautiful pale green dress wrapped her slender frame, decorated with beautiful living daffodil flowers. A soft yellow veil sat across her shoulders and fell to her feet which were set into dainty little shoes embroided with the same floral patterns that covered her dress. Beautiful golden hair was set into two neat little buns that that were held in place by rows of tiny daffodils before cascading the length of her back.

Her clothes looked otherworldly enough to convince anyone who looked at her that she was not a normal child, but it was her features that announced solidly that she was a spirit.

Her skin was a pale no human hue could match; white as the porcelain vase had been and her eyes were completely black with no white or iris.

Shifting his gaze quickly to the Hime sitting in front of him, Doumeki began composing an explanation that would calm her if she panicked but it was quickly apparent that he wouldn't need one. Kunogi-Hime was smiling at the girl who was returning the expression with good will.

"It's very nice to finally meet you Vase-chan"

The name sounded ridiculous, but it didn't seem to upset the spirit girl. She simply smiled all the brighter at her mistresses recognition and held out a daffodil flower as a peace offering. The princess seemed touched at this action and looked as if she wanted to talk further, but Doumeki thought it about time to get to the matter at hand. The Spirit would not stay in this form for long.

"You seemed to have caused some trouble for the princesses' home" he stated quietly, gathering the spirits full attention to him. The child frowned at his accusation and shook her head before causing the tea pot that was set before them to bloom with more conjured Daffodil flowers.

It didn't seem inclined to speak, but its meaning was clear.

"Yes you give her plenty of flowers, but you also took one of the men from her household" he clarified the problem. "He disappeared into your vase"

She tilted her head slightly as if pondering something that was troubling her. The scent of Daffodils hung in the air heavily as a voice suddenly filled their ears.

"Appalling emissary boded ill for Sunflower Hime"

Her lips never moved.

"The man was a danger to the princess?" Doumeki asked, his gaze turning sharply towards Himawari who looked suddenly very taken aback. The Spirit nodded.

"Man's ill brethren have moved into the historical abodes of the flower princesses. One such ill harmer is gone but others remain."

"So you killed him?"

The girls smile was eerie as she shook her head.

"He is displaced"

So she did not have the capacity to harm others. That at least was reassuring if the princess intended to keep the vase. It seemed her power was in moving people from one place to another. An interesting guise for a portal, but now she had brought another puzzle to his table.

Why had the man been there with the intent to harm the princess in the first place?

When he asked the spirit this question she did not answer him. Instead she took Kunogi's hand in her own. A brilliant light shone from the spirit as she smiled brightly at the Princess.

"The Moon will need you"

A riddle.

For a moment Kunogi-Hime seemed confused, but her smile returned quickly and she bowed her head in acknowledgment. It seemed that she knew she would get no more information on the matter. Doumeki was mildly surprised that she was unusually well acquainted with the ways of spirits, considering her upbringing in this age but he chose not to comment. That she understood these things without explanation would only make his dealings with her easier.

He had expected that this was all that they would receive from this meeting as the Daffodil girl began to fade, so he was much surprised when the misted eyes of the child turned to him in her last moment and a cool hand was placed on his cheek.

"You have the gift to comprehend. If you see in time then there is hope, but you must look only with a closed eye"

The vase sat on the velvet cloth once more.

"The Moon" Kunogi mused, looking intently at the vase as if it would suddenly spring back to life again. "I don't think that she meant the one in the sky"

"No" Doumeki didn't either. Still it was obvious that they were being sent to find this 'Moon'.

"I read a book once that said there were objects and people that contained strong ties to the moon and the sun. Maybe Vase-chan meant one of these things?"

"It makes sense. Still it's not going to be easy to find without more clues"

Nothing was going to be found when the only thing they had to work with was one possessed inanimate object telling them to go find another.

Silence reigned for a time, but quiet contemplation got them nowhere.

Suddenly a bell chimed from somewhere in the temple and Doumeki's stomach churned with lead.

A little under an hour had passed.

The young woman sitting opposite him picked up on the young priest's discomfort.

"I'm sorry, I've stayed too long" her hair ornaments clinked quietly as she rose from her seat. "Thank you very much for your help today Doumeki-san".

Part of him wanted her to stay. To give him a reason to tarry in the pavilion and put off the meeting that was coming. The other part of him was wondering why he was acting like such a moron.

He'd been over this with himself. He would meet Watanuki-san cordially by the gate and allow him access to his home. He would weather the intense look of dislike that he deserved and would receive for failing him. Then he would care for the man in any way that he could for the rest of his life. It was his responsibility if nothing else.

But now that the time had come to pass, Doumeki was not sure he could walk to the gate and stare the man in the eye.

"Doumeki-san… are you sure that you are not ill?"

Shizuka was slightly confused by the intense look of worry on the princess's features as he startled out of his thoughts. When she got no answer from him, Himawari seemed to think that her worry was justified and held her hand out to him in an offer to take it.

He did not.

Himawari Kunogi was _enlightened_. She had been born with the gift of happiness- for lack of a better word to describe it. She could heal a soul that had been wounded, bring relief to the days of the suffering and shine a light into the dark places of the world. She was a gift that passed with the slightest touch and was a joy for all who perceived her in her true aspect.

Doumeki was not one who deserved her touch.

"Thank you Kunogi-Hime but I'm alright really" He got to his feet. "I was just thinking about something"

Her worry did not seem to disperse, but she did not push the matter. He was grateful.

Collecting the green cloth that the vase had been wrapped in when she had brought it in Shizuka draped it carefully around the vase and took it from her hands. Then he collected an umbrella by the door and slid back the screen to let her out.

"Here I'll walk you back to the front of gate; your men are still waiting for you"

The walk was much like Shizuka would have imagined the Death March felt to walk. He kept pace with the Princesses small steps easily but to his mind they were travelling so fast that it seemed they were in the tea pavilion one moment and at the temple gates the next.

Two cars were parked on the road.

The first was a shiny black Mercedes. It had tinted windows and at their approach two black suited men exited the car with umbrella's, eager to help their princess in any way that they could.

His attention however was on the silver Lexus that was parked behind it. This too had tinted windows, but he didn't need to see into the car to know who it belonged to and who was driving it. This was his own car, the very one that he had leant to one of his priests; Yukito this morning to go and retrieve Watanuki-san from the hospital.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were expecting someone" Himawari's voice once again pulled him back to the moment. She had just taken the vase from his hands and handed it to one of her men. Turning so his back was to the silver car, Doumeki steeled his discipline once more and finished his consultation with Kunogi-Hime as he should have back at the Pavilion.

"It's nothing. Thank you for your patronage Hime, and if you need anything in the future, you need only call"

Himawari smiled as she once again held her hand out to Shizuka.

"No, really thank you. After all I would never have met Vase-chan and learnt of Moon-san without your help. I'll endeavor to keep looking-"

Doumeki's breathing stopped as Himawari suddenly stopped talking and stared over his shoulder. Worried about what she had seen that had stilled her so completely he dropped all pretense of a polite conversation and quickly turned back to the silver Lexus.

For a moment, Shizuka dreaded that her reaction had been brought around by the ghastly sight that Watanuki was sure to present. Wrapped in bandages and heavily scarred in weeping wounds, he would not be a pretty sight to behold but Shizuka still felt himself getting angry at her anyway. Watanuki did not deserve the belittling stares he would receive. Those injuries were not his fault they were Doumeki's.

But that moment faded instantly as he realized that that was not the situation at all.

Dressed in a beautiful white Kimono embroided with silver lace in the pattern of rain drops and butterflies was a God. There was no other way to describe such aesthetics. His skin was like ivory against the white of his clothes and his hair was a beautiful contrasting black that hung in a loose braid across one of his shoulders. Sliver ribbons had been woven through it and matched similar ones that were tied at his throat securing a tiny string of precious stone butterflies that hung there. His clothes covered all except the base of his throat and his face, but they still did a wonderful job of accenting his slender figure and highlighting his natural beauty.

Out from under the fluorescent lights of the intensive care ward, he looked nothing like the sallow fragile man that Shizuka had spent weeks staring at in the hospital. This was a powerful man of regal standing, with all the looks of what he had been before the accident.

But the eyes were what stunned him.

He had seen those eyes only once before. In the moment that he had first found the Watanuki man laying in a pool of rain and blood, those sapphire blue eyes had looked at him with a pain that Doumeki did not think was possible.

And now he was looking at them again and there was nothing else in the universe.

"She's Beautiful" Himawari breathed.

Not even aware of her words or his own Shizuka agreed with her, his eyes still locked on Watanuki's.

He was stunning.

The moment passed when Watanuki stumbled and closed his eyes.

Suddenly the rest of the scene came into focus, and the reality of the situation came crashing down with a thunderclap.

Yukito, who had opened the door to help Watanuki out of the car was now carefully supporting the man's dead weight as he struggled to seat the weakened frame into a wheelchair.

"Oh is she alright?" Himawari rushed forward in an instant, but she was steps behind Doumeki. It took him mere moments to reach the crippled man.

"Its okay, Doumeki-sempai" Yukito assured him. "He is just tired is all. Akizuki went all out on him with dress up"

Not seeming to like being talked about as if he was not there, Watanuki cleared his throat and forced his eyes open to manage a reproachful look at Yukito before they fluttered closed once more.

Doumeki didn't like to see Watanuki like this. Hadn't the doctors said that he had been well enough to travel? Deciding that it was best to make sure that the man stayed conscious until he got him safely indoors, Shizuka leant forward to peer into Watanuki's face and called to him.

"Oi".

The look of fury as Watanuki's eyes snapped open took Doumeki by surprise. So much so, he retreated to standing a foot away and carefully arranged his face into a blank stare.

"Never" Watanuki hissed. "Address me so informally"

The rain began to fall heavily as they stood in an awkward silence.

Himawari broke it.

"You'll catch a cold if you stay out here" she chimed helpfully, motioning one of her guards to shield Watanuki with an umbrella. With a smile the man did more than that, taking off his black coat and draping it around Watanuki's shoulders. He then began to wheel him inside. The priest who had driven Watanuki from the hospital followed dutifully, but the second guard that had been present for the princess approached her before she took the initiative to follow.

"Please return to the car Hime, Monou-san will return in a moment"

Obediently, Himawari shot one last worried look in Watanuki's direction before beginning to comply.

"Will he be alright?"

Doumeki's attention was for Watanuki and the guard. He did not trust that man, but dutifully he remained to answer the princesses' question.

"He was attacked by something supernatural a few months ago. He will be living here until he recovers."

"Attacked? Was it serious?"

Watanuki and the guard were almost to the veranda of the tea pavilion at this point and letting them out of his sight was a strain on Doumeki's patience.

"His body was torn open and he lost the use of his hands"

Himawari was appropriately mortified.

"He must be in so much pain! I couldn't imagine having to live through something like that"

But he had lived. Despite Doumeki's failure to reach him in time, he had survived.

_Don't you dare die on me_.

_Promise me that_-

A memory surfaced at the half thought. Words that he remembered from a dream long ago.

"_Please, don't leave me, I'm so sorry please"_

"_At least you know how I feel now"_

"_Please don't leave me! Eternity isn't worth it without you!"_

"_Then wait for me. I will come back"_

"_I can't"_

"_Promise me."_

_Live._

Had it been a dream? He didn't remember having it.

Pushing it aside he decided to leave dreaming for sleeping hours.

"If you will excuse me Hime"

Traveling as cordially as he could manage without running, Shizuka made his way back to the tea pavilion as Himawari took her leave.

He really did not trust that guard with Watanuki.


End file.
